The Last Straw

"Please! Don't do it," she shouted, throwing her hands in the air

"Why? Because I'm right?" Dax rebutted, still gripping the glass of water over Trina's computer.

Slowly inching towards Dax with her arms stretched in front of her and palms facing out, Trina starts, "No, no, no, of course, I don't ha-"

"Don't have feelings for your AI boyfriend?" Dax cuts in, "Trina, that's bullshit, and you know it. You have spent these past few months talking to the computer more than your own living and breathing husband." 

Dax was steaming with anger and shaking while confronting Trina, but he had enough after months of being tossed aside and treated as more of a roommate than a husband. 

Trina's eyes darted back and forth from the water glass in Dax's hand and her laptop sitting open on her desk.

"Dax," Trina said gently, "I think you're letting your emotions get the best of you, put the water down, and we can talk about this."

"I have been trying to talk to you about this, but you can't stop talking about this shitty bot," Dax spit out. 

"Hey, don't talk about him like that. You know that he-"

"HE isn't real!" Dax yelled, slamming the glass down on the table and causing a few drops to spill onto the desk.

"Well, I -uh," Trina sputters, eyeing the spilled water. "Listen, I know that I have not been giving you as much attention lately, but you need to understand that Tommy helps me."

"It should be me you turn to when you need help, not this coded delusion you have that just tells you what you want to hear. I can help you, baby" Dax pauses, taking a deep breath. "I'm serious, Trina. It's either Tommy or me because I can't go on like this. There can only be one." 

Trina's eyes begin to well with tears, and she leans against the wall sliding down until she meets the floor. There is a long silence that hangs in the room. Dax's mind raced with the infinite outcomes this argument could have. He knew he would have to leave Trine if she couldn't go without the AI. He dreaded that truth but then thought of his briefcase and how his friend Gil had probably already snuck the divorce papers in. Divorce felt like the worst outcome for Dax, but with all the support from his family, friends, and even coworkers, he knows he deserves more. But if Trina couldn't give him more, he didn't know how to move on. 

The silence is finally broken when Trina says, "You're right. I cannot have you both. I am sorry, Dax, for how I have been treating you. It's not right. How can I make this better?"

"Get rid of Tommy." 

"Okay, I will. Let's cool down and have dinner first."

Dax walks over to Trina, extending his arm out towards her. She grabs ahold of his hand, and he pulls her up from the ground and into his arms. He holds on to her and, while fighting back the tears, whispers into her ear, "I just miss you." 

"I know, I am sorry," Trina whispered back. 

***

Dax felt the air lift in the house, and he could finally breathe. He felt a little guilty that he had to threaten Trina but now knows it was for the best. Trina was setting the table for dinner when Dax entered the kitchen to check on their meal.

"Wow smells great," Dax commented. "I thought we could go out tomorrow night and see some friends. We haven't seen Nathan and Katie for a while. You like Katie, right? We could go to that comedy club we went to last time. How does that sound?"

"Mhm, we can do that," Trina responded, keeping her back towards Dax. 

The argument with Trina ended just the way Dax hoped it would. With Trina agreeing to get rid of Tommy and finally open to spending more time in the present. It was hard for Dax to see Trina change like that; before she made Tommy, she would go out more and see her friends, and she even was in a book club for a while. But his social butterfly wife turned into a shell of herself. She stopped going out, she stopped seeing her friends and family, and worst of all, she stopped talking to Dax. The last three weeks were the worst; she was staying up so late on the computer that she would fall asleep on the couch and never go back to bed with Dax. When Dax began to express his concerns about his marriage to those around him, he was surprised they took his side, and Gil especially wanted to help Dax. Gil's brother-in-law happened to be a divorce attorney, and he would update Dax on the best plan of action, even though Dax wasn't ready to think about divorce. But the final straw that sparked the fight was Dax walking in on Trina, pleasuring herself while talking to "Tommy." Dax felt homicidal rage inside of him, which terrified him, and he knew he needed to save his marriage. 

"Honey, can you grab that bottle of wine your dad gifted us from the basement?" Trina asked while stirring the large pot on the stovetop. 

"Sure," Dax replied, smiling, and headed towards the basement door. He opened the door and descended the stairs into the darkness. In their basement, there was only one light, which was at the very far wall. Dax reached for the light switch, flicked it on, and began searching for the wine. As he bent down to scrutinize the giant box filled with bottles, he was struck on the back of his head, and his world went black. 

***

When Dax finally came to, he was bound by his wrists and ankles to a chair still in the basement. He could see Trina through his blurred vision as he opened his eyes. 

"And that is exactly what I thought," Trina said with her back facing Dax, "he just doesn't get me like you do, dear." 

Dax groaned as the pounding in his head grew worse, and Trina turned around to face him. 

"He's awake," Trina exclaimed with an unhinged look in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Dax asked, wincing from the pain.

"There can only be one," She said with a grin, "You said it yourself, silly."

"What do you mean?" 

"I can only have one, and I choose Tommy, right babe?" Trina giggled, turning her head back 

Dax struggled in the chair, trying to wriggle free from the ropes digging into his skin. Out of all the outcomes of his damaged marriage to Trina, he thought the worst-case scenario was divorce, but now he doesn't know how it will end or what Trina has planned. 

"Trina, please don't do this," Dax cried.